1.30.2006

My SOTU Preview

My prediction: Bush won't mention his "vision" for exploration of the Moon and Mars. To be fair, he's never mentioned moon, Mars, space, or NASA in any of his SOTU addresses. (Clinton mentioned the space program in three addresses, but one of them is hardly worth counting.)

His announced vision in 2004 went over like a lead ballon with Conservatives, and there was no reason for him to mention it again because it didn't earn him any political brownie points. However, I'm sure that some of DeLay's fans here in TX-22 would appreciate some type of reassurance that DeLay is actually representing the space industry (like he claimed he would). If Rove feels like throwing DeLay a bone, we'll see a mention of Bush's space "Vision".

This, however, is a different matter than space defense. That's possibly his new "vision". (Political junkies can place bets on the number of times Bush will mention "space terrorism" in his 2006 SOTU.) I certainly think that's one of the reason why Mike Griffin is the new NASA Administrator, but I'm hesitant to think Bush will be bold enough to declare war on Iran AND weaponize space in one speech. But I wouldn't put it past him...